ENIO SACILOTTO hailed the new Ahearne Trophy a resounding success - despite the fact that his Bracknell Bees side had the poorest record of any of the 14 teams that took part in the competition.

Bees can count themselves unfortunate not to have contributed any points to the Superleague cause as they turned in two good performances, losing 4-2 at home to Schwenninger Wild Wings on Saturday then 4-3 to Dusseldorf the following night.

Sheffield Steelers were the only other Superleague team to be beaten in both games against Deutscher Eishockey Liga opposition as Germany beat their UK counterparts 16-12pts to lift the Ahearne Trophy in its inaugural year.

But Sacilotto will welcome the chance to take on the DEL again next year, now that the German clubs have confirmed that they will be returning to mount a defence.

Bees' boss said: "It was a fantastic experience. We may have lost both games but our guys raised their level. I wish we had been able to chip in with some points for the cause because we wanted to but we were competitive in both games."

Many players see the Superleague as a stepping stone to gaining a more lucrative contract in the DEL.

Former Bees players Reid Simonton and Eric Bertrand are both playing in Germany now.

And judging by the effort put in by the Bees team over the weekend, it was clear that they were treating both games as a chance to showcase their talents.

Not that the two DEL bosses were the only top coaches at the John Nike Leisuresport Complex.

Watching both games was Boston Bruins head coach Robbie Ftorek, whose son Sam is one of Bees' leading forwards this season.

Although there were a total of six players dismissed for fighting over the weekend - Mark Matier, James Morgan and Darren Hurley of Bees, Dave Chyzowski and Marc Rodgers (Schwenninger) and Jean-Francois Quintin (Dusseldorf) -

Sacilotto said: "There were far too many penalties because neither games were dirty."

Bees were on the wrong end of several controversial minor penalty decisions which the Germans' well-drilled powerplay units punished with ruthless efficiency.

And Sacilotto said: "Two nights in a row we let the referees get the better of us. The officials were a distraction for our team and we cannot have that kind of distraction."

Bees will be looking to end what is now a disastrous six-match losing run at home when they entertain Ayr Scottish Eagles tomorrow night (8pm).